Gear – Gigaomhttp://gigaom.com
The industry leader in emerging technology researchWed, 21 Feb 2018 21:16:20 +0000en-UShourly1Samsung launches its smart home efforts for the home that only has Samsunghttp://gigaom.com/2014/04/02/samsung-launches-its-smart-home-efforts-for-the-home-that-has-only-has-samsung/
http://gigaom.com/2014/04/02/samsung-launches-its-smart-home-efforts-for-the-home-that-has-only-has-samsung/#commentsWed, 02 Apr 2014 22:09:32 +0000http://gigaom.com/?p=831654Are you an Android(s goog) fan? More specifically are you a Samsung fan? If so, then the connected home stuff that Samsung is launching today might be right up your alley. The South Korean electronics giant has introduced what it calls its Smart Home Service to control connected appliances and eventually help consumers build out automatic scenarios that could make their lives easier.

The Samsung post announcing the launch explains that someone using the Samsung Smart Home service (available via an Android app today) could program their devices so when she says “Good Night” to the TV remote control, connected devices within the home such as the recently launched Smart Bulb and air conditioners automatically turn off. Such is the stuff of home automation dreams.

But it has a big catch. For any of this automation to work you need to have Samsung gear. This isn’t an open play. Still, as the owner of an ancient Galaxy S phone and a fairly new Samsung fridge (I bought it last year), I was pumped to see that Samsung has started its connected home play with the following devices:

Samsung Smart French Door Refrigerator

Samsung Smart Front Loading Washing Machine

all 2014 Smart TV models

Samsung Gear 2

Samsung Galaxy S 5

Y’all, I was so close to being the owner of a connected fridge! Alas, I am not, but Samsung’s closed pitch here isn’t exactly a surprise given how it has treated its smart watch launch. The Gear watch for now only works with Samsung handsets, which seems a bit ridiculous given that a watch is a purchase one has typically made for fashion purposes with the hope that it lasts for years. Meanwhile a handset gets tossed every 18 months, if not sooner.

The other odd bit here is that Samsung seems to think consumers are going to buy only Samsung products, something that could happen in a small sub-segment of the population or even with a sub-segment of devices like a handset and watch, but isn’t likely across the home unless Samsung is talking to new home builders. Unless my connected appliances make dinner for me, there’s no app or service that would make me limit myself to all Samsung appliances.

I brought this up when I was interviewing Curtis Sasaki, SVP and Head of Samsung Media Solutions Center America last November (at the 9:25 mark) and he was pretty evasive about how real such a closed vision will be and for how long.

“It’s great that we have all of these products out there that connect to the net, but I think our job … is to figure out how do you connect them together. And obviously from a Samsung perspective we can do a lot because these are products that we ship, but we also have products that also work with non-Samsung products,” he said. He then went on to discuss a TV app that works across multiple sets.

So there is hope that Samsung might eventually link up with Panasonic or Kenmore (both of which are part of the AllSeen Alliance trying to build a standard interface for the internet of things) or even that I might link my Philips Hue lights with my future Samsung fridge, but for now it’s a closed ecosystem. That’s fine by me. I’m a long way out from buying a new fridge anyway, and by the time I do, I bet things will have drastically changed.

Meanwhile one can register for the Samsung Smart Home app with their Samsung Account. For those with smartphones, the app can be downloaded from Samsung Apps and Google Play. Samsung is planning a separate app for the Gear 2 powered by Tizen and the app for Samsung’s 2014 Smart TV models will be available in April. Later, connected vacuums air conditioners and light bulbs will join the Samsung smart home party.

]]>http://gigaom.com/2014/04/02/samsung-launches-its-smart-home-efforts-for-the-home-that-has-only-has-samsung/feed/5Samsung’s Galaxy Gear is location aware, sporting Glympse’s friend-finding apphttp://gigaom.com/2013/09/04/samsungs-galaxy-gear-is-location-aware-sporting-glympses-friend-finding-app/
http://gigaom.com/2013/09/04/samsungs-galaxy-gear-is-location-aware-sporting-glympses-friend-finding-app/#commentsWed, 04 Sep 2013 20:28:52 +0000http://gigaom.com/?p=686843Samsung’s new Galaxy Gear will launch with 70 native apps, though the company highlighted only a handful of them at its big unveiling in Berlin and New York on Wednesday. Among those listed were exercise apps you’d expect in sporty wearables like MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper, social networking apps like Path, and organization apps like Evernote and Tripit. But the one that particularly caught my eye was Glympse.

Glympse is a location-sharing and collaboration app, allowing you to temporarily transmit your location, intended destination and expected time or arrival to anyone with an internet connection. If you haven’t used it, it’s an extremely handy app for, say, meeting friends at an outdoor festival, or letting the in-laws know your ETA without having to field phone calls or text messages while driving.

But it’s also an extremely simple app that would be far more useful on my wrist or on the dashboard of my car, than in a smartphone buried in my pocket. If you’re in the driver’s seat or being jostled in a crowd the last thing you want to do is retrieve your phone, unlock your screen and open your Glympse app.

Glympse couldn’t agree more. It’s programmed all of its core functions into the Galaxy Gear app itself. Instead of just getting Glympse alerts or notifications on your wrist, you can actually view a full map, letting you track your friends’ whereabouts, see how far away you all are from an agreed-upon meeting point. You can also broadcast your location and request your friends’ locations with a few swipes of the Gear touchscreen.

According to a Glympse spokeswoman, the app functions entirely independently of any smartphone software, though you can still use the Android(s goog) app in your Samsung handset. It only relies on the smartphone for its connectivity to the internet and to supply its location coordinates, since the Gear doesn’t have GPS or cellular triangulation capabilities.

As my colleague Kevin Tofel wrote last week, wearable tech is ideal for contextual nuggets of information — it’s not a replacement for the smartphone or tablet:

The innovation I’m expecting is in hyper-personal contextual data: A watch or wearable that knows where you are, where you need to be, what’s next on your calendar, what your likes and dislikes are. Think of a personal assistant that’s better suited for glancing at data points on your wrist then forcing you to retrieve a phone from your pocket.

As with Kevin’s Google Now example, the second-best place for Glympse is on a smartphone. The reason is simple: Glympse is most useful when you’re engaged in some other activity, such as driving or walking or having a conversation with friends. The information Glympse is conveying is minimal – just a flashing icon on a map or a simple ETA. It’s not the kind of app you need to become fully immersed in on a smartphone display.

These new device designs and how apps are being recreated to take advantage of them will be two key topics at GigaOM’s Mobilize conference in San Francisco Oct. 16-17. In fact, Samsung’s own Head of Design Studio Dennis Miloseski will be on hand to talk specifically about Samsung and the mobile industry’s new approach to hardware design.

The Gear is the first wearable Glympse has found its way into, but the startup is plenty aggressive in the parallel internet of things world of the connected car. It’s already signed deals with Ford(s f), BMW, Mercedes Benz and Gamin(s grmn) to bundle its app or its location sharing technology into their connected car and vehicle navigation systems. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Glympse in Google Glass and other wearable gadgets shortly.

]]>http://gigaom.com/2013/09/04/samsungs-galaxy-gear-is-location-aware-sporting-glympses-friend-finding-app/feed/2The Quest for the Perfect Flash Drivehttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/03/the-quest-for-the-perfect-flash-drive/
http://gigaom.com/2010/02/03/the-quest-for-the-perfect-flash-drive/#commentsWed, 03 Feb 2010 15:28:23 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=27570In techno-tourism terms, I’m fairly well-traveled. Mostly because I’ve visited the mecca of gadgetry, Japan, but I’ve also stopped at quite a few other places as well. During those travels, I’m on the look out for one thing in particular, one mundane thing that trumps all others: Flash drives.

I want to find the perfect flash drive like baseball pitchers want a perfect game. The perfect gadget is elusive and amazingly rare, and I’ve often come tantalizing close to finding it without actually getting there. I think I’ve found the perfect drive now, but I’ve thought that in the past, too. So, here’s a run down of where I’ve come from, and where I’m at now, and why I think I’ve come as close to perfection as possible.

Monarchs of Old

Two flash drives come to mind when I think back on the long parade of USB keys that have come and gone over the course of my life as a gadget-addicted web worker. Both shared some similarities, but I liked them more for their differences than for what they had in common.

Lexar FireFly

The FireFly represents the first time I paid attention to the case design of a flash drive. Before this, it didn’t matter what it looked like, and to my mind, none really looked that good anyway. It didn’t matter that there were complaints about the speed of the drive, and even some murmurs about high failure rates. It felt solid, had a blue glow, and genuinely resembled its namesake.

When I started using a FireFly, a 512MB capacity drive was all that I really needed. I still have the neon green one that I had back then, and it still works, though I don’t use it any more because all of my documents are now online, and at that capacity there’s very little else I can carry on it. They’re still available from Lexar, but the capacities don’t seem to be increasing and keeping track of the cap started to become a nuisance, so I moved on.

SanDisk MicroCruzer

To escape the tyranny of caps, I moved on to the MicroCruzer, which again boasts a pretty attractive form factor, but with a retractable USB connector to eliminate the need for protective covers. A reassuring orange glow lets you know it’s working, and you get the reassurance of using a SanDisk flash product, a company I’ve found to be tremendously reliable. Many of my MicroCruzers are still in service.

But not all. The retraction trick may prevent the connector from getting damaged and reduce the need for a cap, but with lots of repeated use it seems to wear down, and now some won’t catch when extended, making it much harder to connect them to the computer. And it shares the same small but chunky design with the FireFly, which means they still feel like a bulky imposition in my pants pockets.

Current Ruler

LaCie CooKey/IamaKey/WhizKey

The flash drive so nice they made it thrice. LaCie originally released the IamaKey model of this drive, which I bought as soon as I became aware that it existed. It’s a USB key meant to resemble an actual key, thanks to a housing designed by 5.5 Designers for the Mac-friendly accessory maker. When that model took off, LaCie introduced two further designs that essentially replicated the form factor.

Which is a good thing, because it’s actually perfect, insofar as my current flash memory needs go. The keys come in a range of capacities, from 8GB to 32GB, and they sport a rugged metal design. They’re as thin as house keys, so they fit can on your key ring. The connector is one-sided (doesn’t have the traditional box of a male USB connector, only the business side with the contacts), which allows for the thinness of design.

A little plastic cover is provided for those who are paranoid about damaging the contacts, but as someone who promptly lost that cover on his first key, let me tell you that it isn’t at all necessary. The construction of the contacts is such that they seem impervious, even when kept with the rest of your keys in a pocket filled with change and other bric-a-brac. They’re easily portable, functional, unobtrusive and stylish. Plus clients and people I meet in the course of doing business almost always fall in love with them, so they help with networking and they make great corporate gifts, too.

]]>http://gigaom.com/2010/02/03/the-quest-for-the-perfect-flash-drive/feed/6Touchscreen Devices and Gloves Don't Mix — or Do They?http://gigaom.com/2009/12/03/touchscreen-devices-and-gloves-dont-mix-or-do-they/
Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:00:06 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=23908Winter has definitely arrived here in the UK, with temperatures dropping over the past week or so, prompting me to break out my winter coat and gloves. I actually quite enjoy the changing seasons, but gloves are awkward because they don’t work with devices with capacitive touchscreens (like my iPhone, and also the trackpad on my MacBook), and constantly removing and replacing gloves when fiddling with my phone quickly becomes annoying. Fortunately, I’ve found there are quite are a few workarounds that let you keep warm mitts and stay connected on the go.

Use fingerless gloves. Any style of fingerless gloves will obviously work, but the Etre Touchy gloves I added to my inexpensive gift guide look particularly good, and because they are only missing thumb and index fingertips, your hands will stay a little warmer than full fingerless gloves. If you don’t like the idea of having exposed fingertips at all, then maybe convertible glove mittens are the answer — to answer a call or check email you’d just need to flip back the mitten top.

Use a stylus. You can buy relatively inexpensive styluses to use with touchscreen devices. (Here’s one specifically for the iPhone, for example.) It’s important to use a stylus that won’t scratch the screen over time. If you don’t want to pay for a dedicated stylus or happen to lose yours, Lifehacker provides this clever trick: Use the negative (flat) end of an AAA battery. Because the end of the battery is smooth it won’t scratch your screen, and exhausted batteries work just as well as fresh ones — it works well, as you can see in the photo at the top of this post.

Use conductive gloves. You can buy gloves specifically made to work with touchscreen devices — these Dots Gloves have special conductive pads on the the tips of the thumb and three fingers, and aren’t overly expensive (ranging from $15 to $25 per pair — they appear to be popular as many sizes are currently sold out). There are also these PlayPoint gloves. However, if you don’t want to shell out for special gloves, you can also make your existing gloves work with touchscreens by sewing conductive thread into the fingertips, and it’s easy to do — there’s a tutorial on how to do it over on Instructibles.

Do you have any other workarounds for using gloves with touchscreen devices? Share them below!

]]>Finding Web Worker Gear Deals on Black Fridayhttp://gigaom.com/2009/11/20/finding-web-worker-gear-deals-on-black-friday/
http://gigaom.com/2009/11/20/finding-web-worker-gear-deals-on-black-friday/#commentsFri, 20 Nov 2009 17:00:13 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=23132I’m one of those fanatics who goes out before dawn on the day after Thanksgiving, to wait in line for the doors of my favorite stores to open so I can snap up the best deals before they are gone. It sounds really crazy, until you see my receipts and calculate how much money I’m saving for my effort.

And I’m not just saving money on gifts. My first stop is usually an office supply store, because Black Friday can also be a great day to buy web worker gear for bargain prices. Here’s a look at what you might find in stores for your business needs this year.

Of course, when we think web work tools, most of us probably think computers first. But despite the ubiquitous ads for computer sales on Black Friday, a computer may actually be the most difficult tool to find a good deal on. Web workers need computing power, and most Black Friday sale computers at the major chain stores are vastly underpowered so they can be advertised for cheap prices. Unless you are looking for a basic netbook to make travel more convenient, I recommend going directly to the sites of computer manufacturers like Dell (s dell) to shop their sales on more powerful machines suitable for work.

Unfortunately if you are shopping for a Mac (s aapl), even on Black Friday there won’t be much of a deal to be had. Apple typically runs a small sale with discounts of around 10 percent. (The supposedly leaked ad that has been circulating online showing much bigger discounts from Apple on Black Friday this year is widely believed to be a fake). Other than that, a few retailers usually get creative and offer bonuses as a way of creating “sales” on Apple machines. Best Buy will be offering a $150 gift card with the purchase of a 13” MacBook for $999 on Black Friday this year, for instance.

If you are in need of computer peripherals, however, get your credit card ready to do some work! The sales on some of these items can save a web worker a lot of money on very necessary items.

(Please note that there are no OfficeMax deals in this article because that retailer has issued legal threats against all sites that published details of its Black Friday ads early, so that store’s information is not available for comparison in articles such as this one.)

Some of these deals will be available online starting on Thanksgiving Day, but not all of these items can be purchased online, so you’ll need to carefully check the ad for any item you select. Almost all Black Friday items are “limited quantity, no raincheck” sales, so you’ll want to prioritize your shopping and get out there (or log on) early.

External Storage: Portable and desktop hard drives are great deals on Black Friday. For desktop storage, 1TB and 1.5TB drives will be on sale at virtually all of the office and department chains for bargain prices. Portable drives can also be had for well under $100 for 500GB. WWD Pick: 1.5TB Western Digital My Book Home Edition desktop drive for $119.99 at Best Buy, or the 500GB Western Digital My Passport Essential portable drive for $69.99, a doorbuster at Staples.

Monitors: Black Friday is a great time to pick up a cheap monitor. Like with the computers being advertised, the advertised low prices often mean less-than-stellar performance, so shop carefully. WWD Pick: Dell 20” widescreen for $99 at Best Buy (regularly $159.99).

Flash Memory: Flash memory in the form of cards or USB drives is often sold at deep discounts as Black Friday doorbusters (items with extremely limited quantities and no rainchecks given) to get people to come out to a store and shop for more expensive items while they are there. Because of this, it can be one of the best deals of the whole shopping weekend. I stock up on SD cards at insane prices every year on Black Friday. WWD Pick: USB drive, CF, microSD, and SD card selection on sale at Staples. (Get there early — I can tell you from experience that they go fast!)

Digital Media: If you use CD/DVD media, Black Friday is the time to head to an office supply store to stock up. Both the media and cases for them will be on major sales at all the office supply chains. WWD Pick: Staples 100pk CD-R for $4.98 (doorbuster price) or Staples CD/DVD Jewel Cases 50pk for $4.99, both at Staples.

Keyboards/Mice: These computer accessories can be had for deep discounts on Black Friday. Going for the slightly higher-priced ones will get you a huge step up in quality, however. WWD Pick: Microsoft 4000 Wireless Laser Keyboard/Mouse Set for $29.99 doorbuster price at Staples (regularly $79.99).

Printers: If you need a printer but don’t need the latest and greatest high-end model, Black Friday is the time to get it. Older printer models are offered on deep discounts to holiday shoppers to secure their future business as ink cartridge customers. Depending on whether you want wireless, laser or inkjet, and intend to print photos or not, there are a variety of options available. But check prices versus online vendors such as Amazon, because not all the advertised prices are actually deals. WWD Pick: HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 for $149.98 at Staples and Office Depot (regularly $299.99).

Routers: Whether you are looking for a portable router to pack on the road for setting up impromptu networks, or an upgrade to your home office network, Staples is the place to head on Black Friday for solid router choices with good discounts. WWD Picks: Netgear WNR1000 RangeMax 150 Wireless Router for $34.99 (portable) and Linksys Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router for $89.99 (office), both at Staples.

Battery Back-up: There’s nothing more annoying than having a power blink reboot your computer unexpectedly. Battery back-up units are some of the biggest Black Friday bargains, available for over 50 percent off at multiple stores. WWD Pick: APC 550VA Battery Backup Unit for $24.99 at Office Depot (regularly $59.99).

Shredders: A wide variety of these are on sale at office supply stores, but be sure to check the features. The biggest difference is in how long they can run before they need to cool off (for as long as an hour in some cases). Most sale models are good for only light home office shredding, typically under two minutes at a time. WWD Pick: Omnitech 15 sheet Cross-Cut Shredder for the $39.99 doorbuster price at Staples (regularly $129.99).

Labelers: If you have made a resolution to get organized, Black Friday is the time to pick up a basic electronic labeler for your office. I use my Brother PT-1290 for file folders, plastic storage containers and power cords. Brother sells that basic unit at 75 percent off on Black Friday to get new users captured as a market for the expensive labeler cartridges. WWD Pick: Brother PT-1290 for $9.99 at Office Depot & Staples (regularly $39.99).

Office Furniture: A few basic office furniture items are on sale, but desk chairs are an especially popular sale item at the office supply chains on Black Friday. 50 percent off is not an uncommon discount. You can pick up a low quality chair extremely cheaply, or get an affordable price on a high quality one. WWD Pick: Realspace Harrington High-back Bonded Leather Chair, $99.99 at Office Depot (regularly $199.99).

Phones: DECT 6.0 phones are great for avoiding interference with wireless routers in home offices and for adding extensions where there aren’t installed lines. Lots of options are available on Black Friday depending on whether you need an answering machine and how many extensions you need. WWD Pick: Panasonic KX-TG9333T DECT 6.0 Expandable Cordless Phone with Answering System for $49.99 at Staples (regularly $89.99).

Will you be deal hunting on Black Friday? What will you be looking for a deal on?

]]>http://gigaom.com/2009/11/20/finding-web-worker-gear-deals-on-black-friday/feed/5Genius Gadget Lust: Folding UK Three-pin Plughttp://gigaom.com/2009/11/12/genius-gadget-lust-folding-uk-three-pin-plug/
http://gigaom.com/2009/11/12/genius-gadget-lust-folding-uk-three-pin-plug/#commentsThu, 12 Nov 2009 16:00:30 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=22720Here in the UK, we use very bulky three-pin earthed electric plugs for our 240V AC system. In normal domestic use, these plugs are satisfyingly chunky and solid, but if you need to go on the road, not only do they take up a much larger amount of space in your bag than European or U.S. plugs (particularly if you have more than one), if not well packed they can end up damaging your precious gadgets.

So when I saw this video of a concept design for an innovative folding three-pin plug, I was astounded. Not only does the clever folding design save space in your bag and keep the pins from damaging your electronics, the folded plug can then be used to save space in multi-outlet wall adapters. I really hope that it can pass the various safety checks and makes it into production — I would happily pay a premium for it.

Have you seen a genius bit of product design like this lately? Let us know!

]]>http://gigaom.com/2009/11/12/genius-gadget-lust-folding-uk-three-pin-plug/feed/6Get the Most from Your Gear On the Gohttp://gigaom.com/2009/10/16/get-the-most-from-your-gear-on-the-go/
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:00:49 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=21261Over at jkOntheRun, Kevin has published an excellent post called “7 Rules of the Road for Maximum Mobile Bliss.” In it, he shares some maxims for getting the most out of your gadgets while on the road. His “mobile mantras” include:

Most web workers are on the road for at least some of the time, so go check out Kevin’s post and make sure you maximize your mobile productivity.

Share your tips for getting the most from your gadgets on the go below.

]]>Wacom Bamboo Touch Tablet: Multitouch Mouse Replacement?http://gigaom.com/2009/10/06/wacom-bamboo-touch-tablet-muti-touch-mouse-replacement/
http://gigaom.com/2009/10/06/wacom-bamboo-touch-tablet-muti-touch-mouse-replacement/#commentsTue, 06 Oct 2009 16:00:16 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=20478I was lucky enough to get my grubby mitts on a Wacom Bamboo Touch tablet recently, one of the newly-released models from the popular input device maker that supports multitouch finger input. It’s the basic model that only supports touch, which is ideal for me, because I already have a Cintiq and don’t need the pen tablet functions.

The Bamboo Touch is an interesting product for me because it brings the multitouch gestures that I’ve become so used to on my MacBook Pro (s aapl) to my desktop Mac and PC (though not all of them, more on that later). I wondered how, as a user interface device, such a thing could stack up against a traditional mouse, or whether it would just add another dimension of input instead of replacing my existing pointing device.

Look and Feel

Right away, I noticed that the Bamboo Touch (and the related products in the Bamboo line) was a fantastic looking addition to my gadget arsenal. It’s a simple, black tablet, with little in the way of bells and whistles. It has a matte finish, except for the piano key gloss on the express key buttons and the bar on the left edge with the “Bamboo” moniker printed across it. A single glowing white light lets you know it’s on, and flashes slightly when input is detected.

The Touch model takes up little space on my desk, approximately being about 8″ by 5″. I’d say it occupies approximately the same amount of space as the area I normally use with my traditional mouse. The way I have my desk set up, I can still use a mouse and the tablet concurrently, and my keyboard, while still not having things feel cramped.

The surface is smooth, but not overly slippery. It feels like a good laptop trackpad, which is ideal considering the Bamboo’s usage in my workspace setup.

Buttons and Gestures

ExpressKeys, despite there being only four, are a godsend on this device. My Cintiq has 10 versus the four found on the Bamboo Touch, but honestly, I only ever use four on the larger pen display anyway, so I think Wacom’s right to aim for simplicity with its more consumer-oriented devices. You’ll need to assign one Key as single click, which I’ll explain later, but the others can be configured according to your needs (I have back/forward for the middle keys, and Exposé All Windows for the bottom).

The Bamboo’s Mutli-touch features will be familiar to you if you’ve ever used a recent generation Mac or an iPhone before. It uses two-finger gestures only, not the three- and four-finger gestures available on the most recent Macs, but that’s probably enough for most users.

A single finger controls your pointer, and left clicks. Tap two fingers for a double click, and drag two fingers for scrolling, both vertical and horizontal. You can also flip through files or pictures by moving two fingers left and right. Pinching your fingers will zoom, and rotating them will rotate images and documents on your computer, if the software you’re using supports the feature.

What I Like

I like the seamless transition from my laptop to my desktop the Bamboo Touch provides. There’s never that brief adjustment period that occurs when I’ve been using either a trackpad or a mouse exclusively for an extended period of time. That said, I’m not sure it actually offers a better user experience than a mouse with a desktop, just a different one that I’ve no grown used to. I know my girlfriend, who only uses a laptop most of the time, says she still prefers the mouse with the iMac over the Bamboo.

Regardless, multitouch is terrifically intuitive, and when you’re used to both an iPhone and a MacBook Pro, it can be frustrating at times not to have those features at hand on a desktop. Especially for scrolling-intensive tasks or while working with Photoshop or iPhoto, the Bamboo Touch is my preferred interface device. It’s even incredibly useful when you’re trying to browser and/or organize your files using Finder in OS X or Explorer in Windows (s msft).

What I Don’t Like

As mentioned above, one of your ExpressKeys must be assigned to single click if you don’t plan on using a mouse with the Bamboo Touch. That’s because otherwise, it’s very difficult to click and drag, or to make text selections. There’s an “Add Touch to the Left” feature where you click with your thumb while your pointer finger is already touch to select or drag, but as of yet, it doesn’t feel natural to me.

I’m also concerned about the ergonomics of the device and the long-term impact of using it as a mouse replacement. Without a suitable wrist rest, it seems like it could potentially lead to some kind of RSI pain. That’s a completely uneducated opinion, but rational or not, it is a fear I have.

Conclusion

For the time being, I’m continuing to use my Bamboo Touch as a total mouse replacement. I like the option of using multitouch, and for now, I welcome the novel feeling as compared to standard mouse work. I have a sneaking suspicion that for 80 percent of my work-related tasks, a mouse is more efficient, but even if I do go back to my old ways, I’ll still keep the Bamboo Touch on hand for organizing my media libraries or working with Photoshop, which are both things it does fantastically well.

Have you tried a touch tablet as a mouse replacement? How did it go?

]]>http://gigaom.com/2009/10/06/wacom-bamboo-touch-tablet-muti-touch-mouse-replacement/feed/9Work Smarter: 5 Top, Inexpensive Hardware Devices and Tweakshttp://gigaom.com/2009/08/25/work-smarter-5-top-inexpensive-hardware-devices-and-tweaks/
http://gigaom.com/2009/08/25/work-smarter-5-top-inexpensive-hardware-devices-and-tweaks/#commentsTue, 25 Aug 2009 14:00:06 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=18351Some of the biggest hardware efficiency boosts we can get are either completely free, or nearly so. Sure, a maxed-out new laptop would be great to have, but these are tough times. If you spend a little time with the hardware you have or pick up some very inexpensive peripherals, you can immediately start working smarter. In this post, you’ll find five hardware devices and tweaks that you can put to work with good results almost immediately.

Optimize Your USB Flash Drive. Many people own USB flash drives that they got as gifts or were passed on from someone else, and high-capacity versions have become very cheap. Even on drives with relatively low capacity, you can put entire suites of freeware and open-source applications on your flash drive, keep it in your pocket, and have useful applications to use no matter where you are, even if you need to work on someone else’s computer. PortableApps is my favorite site for downloading a suite of Windows apps (s msft) optimized for a flash drive, while MacLibre is a good equivalent for people on Macs (s aapl).

Next-Gen Note Taking. Recently, I’ve been using the Livescribe Pulse smartpen (shown above), which you can get for $149 to $199, for capturing digital notes. It’s a writing instrument, but it has a computer and camera onboard. As you jot down notes on special paper (it has millions of dots embedded in it), every move you make is digitally captured so that you can take handwritten notes right into software applications. What makes it better than other similar digital pens is that it also records audio, and creates a time line so that you can jump to various parts of a recording and review anything you were taking notes on at that point. Highly recommended.

Better Battery Life. Low battery life remains a chief complaint among users of portable computers, but there are a number of simple steps you can take to radically improve it. In this post, you’ll find nine tips that can make a big difference. Also, this post illustrates how much juice the display on your portable computer consumes, which is an incredible amount. One of the quickest and easiest ways to get much more battery life is simply to turn your brightness down.

The Lowly Mouse. In my post, “Nine Ways to Make Your Mouse Roar,” I made the point that many of us spend more time sitting with a computer and a mouse than we do with any person. The post details a number of ways to get more out of your mouse (not many people read mouse documentation), including using a scroll wheel directly within productivity applications, scrolling horizontally, and speed scrolling without using the scroll wheel.

Get More From Wi-Fi. Many of us rely on Wi-Fi all day long, but I am constantly surprised by how many people there are who don’t optimize their Wi-Fi setups. As just one example, a couple of years ago, I wrote this post, recommending using access points around a home, and many commenters responded that they use a router only for home Wi-Fi, and haven’t considered access points. That’s fine in some homes, but in others, especially larger ones, an under-$50 access point can provide huge performance and range benefits. Check out more tips on inexpensive Wi-Fi hardware upgrades here.

My obsession with portable solar energy continues — in the past I’ve written about Suntrica’s portable chargers, Reware’s Juice Bags and Noon Solar’s range of bags. Suntrica’s chargers, though difficult to purchase outside Finland, currently offer the most elegant and practical solution for cheap, mobile and clean solar energy.

Interestingly, a unique field test of mobile solar power is taking place in a handful of African nations, where electrical power is often unreliable: AfriGadget’s Flexible Light And Power (FLAP) initiative.

FLAP is a collaboration between San Francisco’s iconic messenger bag company, Timbuk2, the Pop!Tech conference, and Portable Light. Timbuk2 has modified one of its standard messenger bags with a removable flap that contains a photovoltaic solar panel connected to an LED light and a USB power outlet, which can be used for charging portable electronics such as phones and MP3 players.

AfriGadget’s founder, Erik Hersman, has been traveling through communities in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, assessing the usability, usefulness and adaptability of FLAP for everyday use. So far it seems the solar-charged light is the key feature, with the bag’s built-in USB charging being less crucial. However, given the crucial cultural role that mobile communication is playing in countries such as Kenya and Uganda, I’d be surprised if this feature doesn’t become more popular.

Interestingly, Timbuk2 plan to offer the solar flap as part of their own range of accessories — bringing technology tested and evaluated in the developing world to its geek-dense customer base in the developed world.

With the popularity and utility of Timbuk2 bags among web workers, combined with the emerging interest in solar power, this seems like a great collaboration. I hope some benefit will accrue to those developing nations’ communities, and not simply to more affluent buyers elsewhere.